Friday, October 18, 2013

Checkmate! Champion chess coach poaches entire TEAM of players to new college

Poached: Chess champion Susan Polgar brought an entire chess team to a new university

It’s not unusual in sport for a richer rival to prey on the best players of a competing team after they’ve found success.But even the New York Yankees couldn’t match the check-mate move that has shocked the genteel world of chess.For
just days after winning their second consecutive national college chess
title the entire Knights Raiders team has jumped ship, poached by
another university.America’s
reigning chess queen, four-time world champion and five-time Olympic
gold medallist Susan Polgar, masterminded the unprecedented switch.The
team coach is taking all seven of her players with her from Texas Tech
to the private Webster University in St Louis, Missouri.

A chess prodigy herself, chess grand master Ms Polgar became the world’s top ranked female player when she was just 15.Her team, all chess masters, were offered full scholarships by their new college, an offer that Texas Tech couldn’t match.The Midwest city is also hosting the US chess championships next month and is home to a brand new 6,000 square foot chess club.

‘St Louis today is the centre of
chess in America,’ Ms Polgar told the Associated Press. ‘It just seemed
like a perfect fit. The university is an overall good choice for them,
but it is a decision each member made individually.

Switch: The team coach is taking all seven of
her players with her from Texas Tech to the private Webster University
in St Louis, Missouri

‘We are one family and in that spirit
they know how much I fight for them and not just about chess, but with
whatever they need help with. ‘They
all are international students and it is part of my job to ensure that
they find a home away from home. I am very proud and very happy for
them,’ she added.Her team consists of players from around the world, including Germany, Iran, Israel, Brazil, Hungary and AberbaiijanProvost
Julian Schuster, a native of the former Yugoslavia who calls himself 'a
very strong fan and casual player,' helped broker the deal after
learning of Ms Polgar's interest through mutual friends.

Game on: Webster University provost Julian Schuster is looking forward to his new chess team

Commitment: Schuster was instrumental in
bringing the defending national champion chess team from Texas Tech to
little-known Webster University near St. Louis

He envisions a broader academic focus
revolving around chess, espousing a 'dream of connecting chess as not
only a game but as a didactic tool, to apply in a learning setting.'Neither Ms Polgar nor Schuster would discuss the specifics of the financial commitment to attract the program.About
30 schools nationwide have competitive chess teams, from Yale and
Princeton to Miami-Dade College and the University of West Indies. And
while college chess remains a niche activity, Ms Polgar's unprecedented
move has given the game a brief moment in the spotlight